For Broward County School Board: Brunson, Mayersohn, Levinson, Rupert and Sakhnovsky

District 1: Felicia Brunson offers fresh eyes, energy

In the Broward County School District 1 race, voters will choose between a veteran incumbent and a rising star. They should aim high and choose the latter: Felicia Brunson.

District 1 covers southeast Broward, which has 23 traditional elementary schools, seven middle schools and four high schools. Only residents of the district are eligible to vote in this race.

As both candidates know, the district faces tremendous challenges with aged facilities, outdated technology and school security. Hallandale High lacks sufficient science labs, for example, and there are chronic problems with warm lunches at some schools because they lack cafeterias. There's also a perception that school leaders favor newer campuses in the west, rather than older and poorer schools in the east.

Incumbent Ann Murray, 71, has had five years to make a bigger dent and help her district be better heard. A retired Broward Schools transportation employee, Murray is a proponent of more K-8 schools, early child education and having a resource officer at each school. She also has gained notoriety for the admitted, one-time use of the N-word. She has apologized and denies having a racist bone, but the incident played poorly in a district where more than half the residents are black or Hispanic.

Brunson, 43, offers a fresh face, high energy and 20 years of education experience. She is a graduate of Broward Schools and holds three degrees, including an Ed.S in Organizational Management of Education from Nova Southeastern University. She has served as vice mayor for the city of West Park for the past nine years and has the sensibilities of someone who can confidently effect change.

The biggest knock against her is that she is employed part-time at Florida Virtual School, an online public school program. She says her marketing duties, based in Miami-Dade, offer no conflict, but it is something to keep an eye on.

On balance, Brunson sees the big picture, is a strong advocate and a bridge-builder. She would be a strong advocate for her district, and represents its best shot for the future.

District 3: Nick Sakhnovsky knows his stuff

Three strong candidates are vying for the Broward School District 3 seat, two of them real standouts.

Heather Brinkworth, 46, possesses the benefit of incumbency, having been appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the nonpartisan post in March. A Fort Lauderdale native and regional program manager for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, she has a reputation for being passionate, smart and easy to work with. She is thoughtful and capable. Voters couldn't go wrong with her. This was a tough call.

But on balance, given the monumental challenges facing Broward Schools today — including the uphill battle to convince voters in November to approve an $800-million bond referendum to update schools — we believe citizens would best be served by someone who really understands the financial practices that once dragged down the nation's sixth-largest school district.

That person is Nick Sakhnovsky.

Sakhnovsky, 57, is a librarian at the Broward County Main Library, and a former teacher, PTA president and school volunteer. He also is the father of a senior at McFatter Technical High. He is well known within the district because he's volunteered on various committees and advisory groups, most notably as chair of the school district's Facilities Task Force, a group that has made some tough but important calls for fixing a troubled department.

This man knows the financial challenges in the facilities department — as well as past corruption in the awarding of construction and maintenance contracts — so he's just the guy to keep a watchful eye on problem spots.

He supports the district's $800-million bond referendum, but is critical of the district's delay in detailing how the money would be spent. He believes the district is top-heavy and proposes a review of salaries, duties and overlapping jobs. The proposed review is needed, particularly given recent explanations for why several top administrators were given 22.5 percent pay raises.

Sakhnovsky is a believer in accountability, open records and clear public communications. He is short on excuses. "The way to do it, is just to do it," he says. "We have to insist on more transparency and more legitimate public involvement."

The third candidate is Sam Budyszewick, 38. A veteran seventh-grade teacher of social studies, U.S. history and reading, as well as a social worker, Budyszewick has some good ideas about improving coordination between what is taught in the classroom and what ends up on standardized testing. But in this race, he is outgunned.

The person who deserves the job because he offers the strongest mix of insight, experience and watchdog sensibilities is clearly Sakhnovsky.

District 4: Bob Mayersohn more adept at managing conflict

The Broward School District 4 race offers voters two very different opponents — an incumbent with exacting experience and an outsider with heart.

In this race, heart trumps experience.

In her bid for re-election, Abby Freedman, 47, argues that the balance should tip toward consistency. "This election could cause a major transition of a board at a time that's really critical for the public schools, when they need to not only repair what is going on in the operations, but in their academics as well."

She's right. The Broward School Board faces real transition this election season, with five of nine seats in play. But change can be good. And some things about Freedman give us pause.

For one, she agreed with Superintendent Robert Runcie's recent proposal to award 22.5 percent pay raises to three top administrators. Plus, she has pulled her son out of public school because she doesn't believe in end-of-course-exams. She also drew criticism for her surprise proposal this year to bus students from overcrowded Parkland schools to campuses across the district. And when she met with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board for her endorsement interview, she hadn't yet read a scathing, weeks-old report about the system's treatment of special-needs students, which included forcing them to deal with hours-long bus rides, packed classes and a lack of qualified teachers.

Typically, an incumbent is the odds-on favorite to win election. In this case, Freedman's record argues against her.

On the other hand, Bob Mayersohn, 56,is a thoughtful candidate better suited to navigate the challenges facing Broward Schools. The father of a special-needs graduate, he is passionate about addressing the scathing report on the district's poor performance with special-needs students. He also serves on the School Board's audit committee and so knows where the money is going, where it is needed and how to guard the public purse. Mayersohn opposed the 22.5 percent pay raises, advocates reasonable employee pay raises and questions how much money is being spent on overpriced consultants.

Mayersohn also is a man who doesn't give up. He has run for the School Board previously, and is better prepared as a result. With his son now in college, he could have walked away. The fact he still cares enough to try again says a lot.

In District 4, Mayersohn is the better candidate. He's earned his shot.

District 6: Levinson will watch out for you

No one can accuse the two candidates in the Broward School District 6 race of failing to show enough dedication to students, learning and the bottom line.

But the incumbent, Laurie Rich Levinson, 51, also comes with a record of financial restraint and a watchful eye on challenges in the classroom.

Her opponent, Lisa Spince, 56, has a strong work ethic, having served 28 years with the school district, working her way up from a clerk to a manager in the transportation department. After taking time off to care for her ill father, she's back as a substitute teacher. She advocates tightening the budget, but wants higher pay for bus drivers. She also supports the pitch for an $800-million bond referendum to update schools, though she says the board has not yet proven it can properly handle its finances, a confusing message.

While well-meaning, Spince lacks the qualifications to help lead the nation's sixth-largest school district.

Levinson, on the other hand, has four years of experience and insights. She holds an economics degree from Brandeis University and is the former owner of a small business — a flooring company. She has pushed for smart budget cuts, greater efficiencies, and new management in the transportation and facilities departments, the district's most troubled departments. Working with colleagues, she counts $35 million in savings for the district, money she says has been pumped back into the classroom.

Despite her best efforts, Levinson was on the losing side of the recent vote to award 22.5 percent pay hikes to three top administrators. "We need to look at how to give raises fairly across the board, but we need to tighten up pay range scales so there is not such a wide range in there," she told the editorial board during her endorsement interview. Levinson knows the whopping pay hikes sent voters the wrong message, particularly as the district asks for an $800-million bond referendum — which she supports — to pay for school repairs, fixing roofs and updating technology.

At the same time, Levinson supports higher education standards, including the new Common Core state standards. But she also would like to see charter schools held better accountable for student performance. She also promises to focus more on safety by hiring more school resource officers and creating single points of entry at schools.

Levinson's biggest weakness may be the sharp edges that can sometimes appear when she disagrees. But she is unafraid to stick to her principles and fight for them. Levinson is by far the strongest choice in District 6.

District 7: Nora Rupertdoes her homework

Of all the Broward School Board races in the Aug. 26 primary, voters in District 7 face the clearest choice.

Incumbent Nora Rupert, 50, is the hands-down best candidate in the race. During her first four-year term on the board, she has built a solid reputation for fighting for fiscal discipline, stronger hiring practices and keeping a closer eye on the classroom.

Her opponent, Hubert St. Clair, is a 12-year employee in the school district's transportation department. "I am running because the school system in Broward County is a failure. We need new people to fix things," he recently told Browardbeat.com. "The School Board is not doing a good job."

While change may be needed, little is known about how St. Clair would approach the job. He has not returned calls to a Sun Sentinel reporter and failed to show up for his editorial board endorsement interview.

Rupert, on the other hand, should be easy for voters to get excited about because she is a well-known and established asset on the school board.

A mother of three adopted children, she is a hard worker who does her homework. She is unafraid to challenge Superintendent Robert Runcie when she disagrees with him and given the superintendent's popularity with the business community, that is saying something.

She has fought for tighter rules surrounding the "Cone of Silence," a policy that disallows board members from conversing with anyone who competes for business with the district. She is supportive of a move to keep board members from serving on vendor-selection committees. And she has demanded greater parity in school programs for students who are gifted, have special needs or speak English as a second language — programs that often lack in resources and qualified teachers.

Observers compare Rupert to board members Patty Good and Donna Korn, who are considered the sharpest, most consistent and most reasonable.

That's not to say Rupert couldn't be even better. While she has worked on her consensus-building skills, she has had problems with being a lone wolf. Leaders are able to persuade votes when needed.

But in the bigger picture, Rupert displayed a lot of backbone in helping the school district regain public trust after its grand jury indictment for waste, mismanagement and corruption. She initially voted against asking voters to approve an $800-million bond referendum for repairing facilities, saying the district has not yet proven itself to be strong fiscal stewards — a heartburn we understand. Now, however, she says the discussion is worth having.

Rupert is someone who digs into details, asks good questions and works hard. "I always think there is more to what data you are being presented," she told the editorial board. "And I think that's a huge asset because I knew going in that taking information at face value, which is what the previous board did, was not going to be effective."